Premium streaming in Italy grew 42% in 2021 with a total of 53 Bn streams during the year according to FIMI, the Italian music industry association. In 2021, 479 albums from 302 artists had more than 10 million streams representing a significant increase compared to ten years earlier. In 2011, only 134 albums from 105 artists exceeded the equivalent threshold of 10,000 copies sold (physical + download). FIMI said that it was ‘an important signal for the economic sustainability of the market that many more artists are achieving success thanks to digital.’
After the inevitable decline in sales during the pandemic and physical lockdown, the physical market made a strong recovery with a volume growth rate of 18% compared to 2020. It is a figure driven by sales of vinyl, which grew by 44.2% compared to the previous year. Cassette sales have also made a comeback showing a 41% increase in volumes compared to last year.
FIMI in conjunction with GfK have published the 2021 Charts which show that Italian music continues to dominate the charts with both the Top Ten Singles and Top Ten Albums being entirely Italian. Only in vinyl is there a greater international representation with Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon taking top slot and Fine Line by Harry Styles coming in at number 3.
Access to all the Italian charts can be found here (in Italian)
Italian Top Albums and Singles 2021
| Top Albums | Top Singles |
| 1. Taxi driver – Rkomi | 1. Malibù – Sangiovanni |
| 2. Sangiovanni – Sangiovanni | 2. Mi fai impazzire – Blanco & Sfera Ebbasta |
| 3. Teatro d’ira – Vol. I – Måneskin | 3. Mille – Fedez, Achille Lauro & Orietta Berti |
| 4. Blu Celeste – Blanco | 4. Zitti e buoni – Måneskin |
| 5. Madame – Madame | 5. La canzone nostra – Mace, Blanco & Salmo |
| 6. Plaza – Capo Plaza | 6. Notti in bianco – Blanco |
| 7. Noi, loro, gli altri – Marracash | 7. Musica leggerissima – Colapesce & Dimartino |
| 8. Ahia! – Pinguini Tattici Nucleari | 8. Nuovo Range – Rkomi, Sfera Ebbasta & Junior K |
| 9. Famoso – Sfera Ebbasta | 9. Lady – Sangiovanni |
| 10. Flop – Salmo | 10. Voce – Madame |
The annual rankings of albums, singles and vinyl for the year can be found here (all in Italian)
